Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer who took charge recently, has taken a cue from the workings of paramilitary forces and decided to make his own secretariat at the Delhi Police headquarters for smooth functioning of the force.
Asthana is also planning to shift his office from the second floor, which used to have the office of the Police Commissioner as per the building’s original map. It was former police chief Amulya Patnaik who decided to move the office to the second floor since he felt it would be more convenient for members of the public who come to meet him.
The concept of making a secretariat is typically seen in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and paramilitary forces — in the former, there is a secretariat for the secretary, while in paramilitary forces, all DGs have a directorate.
“In the secretariat and directorate, DGs appoint the in-charge for various units and directly seek updates. This is for the first time in Delhi Police that it has been decided to appoint an Additional CP rank officer along with two additional DCP rank officers for this purpose. They will oversee several ACPs, and work will be distributed among them — from tackling crime to police administration,” a senior police officer said.
An officer said Special CP (General administration) Sivagami Sundari Nanda has been asked to set up his secretariat. “It has also been decided to make a specialised operational wing, which will report directly to Asthana. Currently, whenever the police chief has to seek an update or report, he has to rely on the Special CP of the unit or zone concerned. It has been decided that the secretariat will instead collect all updates from Special CPs,” said the officer.
An officer said the objective is to streamline existing processes, and not have to spend meetings seeking basic updates from Special CPs. “To this end, his subordinates in the secretariat will review reports by the Special CPs. Officers at the secretariat will also make strategies to prevent crimes after analysing data, and simultaneously work towards police welfare. Currently, the police chief has to ask Special CPs about such things,” an officer said.
Asthana has also stopped taking meetings with DCPs every Saturday, as his predecessor S N Shrivastava used to do. “Shrivastava was taking meetings of his Special CPs everyday at 10.45 am, but Asthana has stopped it and has asked his Special CPs to come for tea meeting at 5 pm,” the officer said.
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